With a national championship to celebrate and plenty of fans in Columbus, Ohio ready to enjoy a pretty noteworthy end to a rollercoaster of an Ohio State Buckeyes football season, two Buckeyes headed on down to their local Raising Cane’s to meet up with fans, eat some chicken, and chat with media members.

Will Howard and Jack Sawyer, two crucial contributors from Ohio State’s run to the national championship game (and also two huge reasons why the Buckeyes were able to beat Notre Dame in Atlanta) got the chance to eat some chicken, work the Raising Cane’s drive-thru, meet with fans, and celebrate a bit.

And they also happened to provide some pretty great quotes along the way (shoutout to Amy Utley for helping me get these quotes because I was sidelined due to snow).

Raising Cane’s hosts Ohio State Buckeyes national championship celebration with Jack Sawyer and Will Howard

Sawyer (who from the outside looking in appears to be basically synonymous with Ohio State these days) made sure to note just how much this win (and this team) meant to him. It didn’t take him a lot of elegant, flowery language to explain the importance of this. He was pretty direct.

“Yeah, it means everything to me, being able to do what guys like Will and everyone else on the team did for Coach Day and this city,” Sawyer explained. “You know, it means everything to me, it means the world to me.”

College football often brings out a lot of emotion from the folks playing it (and the fans supporting the folks playing it). There’s a lot of tradition and culture baked into this game. And for someone like Sawyer, it really does seem to mean everything. 

But even though Will Howard hasn’t been around the Buckeyes program for very long, this was a special season for him as well and the connection he now has with this team and the city of Columbus (as well as those that inhabit it) is pretty notable.

“Getting off the plane, off the buses and really coming out there and seeing all the fans and feeling all the love from everyone in Columbus, I knew it was probably going to be crazy, and it was,” Howard said. “I got off the bus and was almost swarmed by all the fans. But it just shows you how much it means really to the city and to this fan base. It’s just, it’s so cool.”

But that was the general reception from fans for the entire team. The event at this particular Raising Cane’s location? Well, that brought out a bit of fun trivia as Hoard noted his connection with the location.

“This is my go-to Cane’s. I live like right down the street, so this is where I come to get my Caniac, no slaw, extra toast,” Howard said.

Sawyer, laughing and cutting in, was quick to ask (with some friendly skepticism) if that was true or a sort of paid endorsement. 

“No, so I’m just trying to plug them,” Howard chuckled. “But no, man, this is so cool and like Jack said, bringing the championship to Columbus is just an unbelievable feeling, man.”

The Buckeyes have a lot of celebrating left to do and they’ve certainly earned it. Rebounding from a disappointing loss in a rivalry game against a Michigan Wolverines team that was (at the time) in the midst of a bit of a letdown season?

That’s hard to do.

The Buckeyes made the most of their chance in the playoff and plowed right through everyone they played. And now they get to celebrate. What better way to do that than with chicken strips and extra toast?